Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim

The three roles of the Drama Triangle are the three main positions that unhappy families play as described by transactional therapist, Stephen Karpman in 1968. The three roles are Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim… The roles incorporate learned patterns of habit and control mechanisms that bond people together in sick ways. They are symbiotic, destructive behaviors that affect all members of the family. Karpman drew these roles on an inverted triangle with the Persecutor (whose behavior ranges from the dominant one to the abuser in the family) and the Rescuer at the upper end of the triangle and the Victim at the bottom. The two positions at the top are considered the “one-up” positions where the people feel superior while the Victim is at the “one-down” position feeling looked down on and helplessness. The positions often shift as people change emotions to protect the ego which feels threatened. The Victim may become angry at the injustice of being persecuted, thereby shifting into the Persecutor role. The Persecutor may become tired with his angry barrage then feel guilty and shift into the rescuing role. The Drama Triangle positions are largely unconscious in nature and kept in place by denial, arrogance, helplessness and collusion (tacit agreement from all players to keep the status quo.) These thematic patterns are passed down from one generation to the next.

Nothing happens without a cause. Things are the way they are not because of chance or the will of a deity but because people
have acted and generated particular consequences. The world we inhabit is the product of our actions, which are themselves reflections of our minds.From “Medicine for the World” by Andrew Olendzk